Time and musicals and not much else

Time flies. It's been 6 months since I posted anything here, and it's mostly due to the reason I haven't had time to create much of interest to post.

However, yesterday I had a very promising meeting with a British actor and writer who is very interested in being the bookwriter for my Japan-themed musical. He has already come up with some great ideas, and we really seem to be on the same page.

The musical has an important subject that we both are passionate telling the world about, so you can expect more updates on this later this summer. We're both busy with other things, but hopefully some time will open up to finally get this musical off the ground.

I'm also constantly writing songs for the weekly BML songwriting workshop, and that takes most of my spare time, not leaving a single moment to think of my own projects or musicals. We will have the whole month of August off this workshop, so that will hopefully be a blessed time for me to get some of my own writing done.

I am very happy with my new vegan lifestyle. It's over 8 months now, and I feel healthier than ever. Sure, I was a vegetarian for 20 years, so it was an easy transition.

I guess you could call me a Vegan Abolitionist.

Almost 10 years ago, a clairvoyant told me I lived a previous life in Brazil and that I was killed while I was fighting for the abolition of slavery.

So I guess it all makes sense. My love for human and animal rights, the country and culture of Brazil, the language, the music. It was all already in me.

The series of unreleased songs

Posting the series of unreleased songs on facebook has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. It has been a true pleasure to share my musical past with you. Having written 500 songs feels very special, and as you can hear in these examples it's in all kinds of different genres.

Here's the list of all songs, with direct links and the year of recording.

Librettist wanted for Japan-themed musical

My Japan-themed musical Peach has been selected for a pitching slot for next years BEAM:2016 showcase of new musical theatre writing.

So I am looking for a librettist to help me reform and rewrite the libretto and the dialogues. It's preferable with someone with insight and understanding of Japanese/East Asian culture as I'm very very eager to avoid Asian sterotypes.

Peach is a 'modern-day Cinderella' set mostly in Japan to the backdrop of the financial crisis.

I write music and lyrics. I've written loads of songs for this show, 2 hours to be exact but I understand the lyrics needs to be rewritten as we rewrite the book, and it definitely needs new songs, more natural ensemble numbers, etc, as 20 of the songs I've already written need to be cut.

However, I really believe in this musical, and so did the jury selecting it to be one of the shows to have a 10-minute pitch slot on 4 November at Park Theatre, London.

New album

I am currently mixing songs for my new album release, which will feature some of my favorite female singers from around the world, singing my songs in new versions!

And yes, there are a couple of new songs too.

Singers from Brazil, Japan, Portugal, France, Sweden and USA are featured on this album, where I will only sing in three duets. On this release, I am mainly songwriter, arranger, musician (guitar and piano) and producer. And I love my new role!

These new versions make me feel as if I hear the songs for the first time, they literally sound like new songs. I am incredibly thankful and happy for getting the chance to work with these fantastic singers.

I am continuously introducing the singers and songs on my facebook page, so make sure you follow me:

About J.C. Schütz

Johan Christher Schütz is a Swedish songwriter and composer writing for musical theatre. His songs have been covered by singers from four different continents.
He released his first solo album Passion in 2004, which immediately became an indie bestseller in Japan.

During October 2011, his song Slow Down was the most played foreign song on Japanese radio.

He premiered his first musical Tivolisaga (Carnival Tale) in Sweden in 2013, written in collaboration with director Johan Pettersson.

In 2016 he was admitted to the BML workshop in London, aimed at nurturing and developing new British musical theatre writing.

In 2017 he received the Löf Foundation Culture Award.

In February 2018, new musical 'Colette' was showcased in the West-End at Crazy Coqs, with music by Schütz, and lyrics by Rachel Dawick and Danusia Iwaszko, written during the BML workshop.